Symposium focuses on Student School Safety Audit

School shootings panel to share "lessons learned"

Involving students in school safety efforts will be the
topic for discussion at a one-day symposium in Springfield
January 23, 2002 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (10:00 A.M. to
3:00 P.M.).

Illinois' first-in-the-nation Student School Safety Audit
will be a prime focus of the session. The Student School Safety
Audit was developed by the State Board of Education's Student
Advisory Council for students to use in assisting school officials
in reviewing and planning for building safety. The State Board
adopted the Audit for distribution and use throughout the
state.

The centerpiece of the Symposium will be a presentation by
school administrators from locations where school shootings
have occurred: West Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi;
Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Littleton, Colorado. The administrators
will discuss the lessons learned from these tragic events
with a focus on the role of students in making schools safe.
A panel representing Illinois school, business and law enforcement
communities will respond to the issues raised by the group.

State Board officials said this Symposium emphasizes student
involvement as crucial to violence prevention efforts.

"Recent news accounts show that students are often
the key to preventing violence in schools," said State
Superintendent of Education Ernest R. Wish. "We are extremely
grateful to the Student Advisory Council for the work and
thought that went into the Student School Safety Audit, and
we are hopeful that student involvement in violence prevention
will be increased by this Symposium and the series of regional
workshops that will follow."

The Student School Safety Audit is available through the
School Safety link on the State Board's home page (www.isbe.net),
as is the School Safety Audit/Assessment Planning Guide for
school administrators.

Illinois State Board of Education
100 North First Street
Springfield, IL 62777